NECCO--Say it ain't so!

As I write, the Boston Globe has just reported that the New England Confectioner’s Company, or NECCO, will be auctioned off May 23.

As a confirmed Necco wafer addict, this news puts me in the breakdown lane. It’s not just that the candy of my childhood may be gone. But when I quit smoking years ago, I switched to Nicorette. When I kicked nicotine gum, I switched, or rather, I re-discovered Necco wafers.

In the addiction treatment lingo, it’s called transference.

But even so, isn’t this America? And Necco wafers—38-40 little colored disks of simple pleasure—are as old as, well, I’ve read soldiers carried them into battle in the Civil War.

In 1847, according to NECCO, wafers were born after Oliver Chase invented the first candy machine in America, called a “lozenge cutter.” The candy sold like candy. Admiral Byrd took Necco wafers to the Antarctic, and the explorer Donald MacMillan gave them to Eskimo children. In World War II the government bought them for the soldiers.

Being mindful of our candy heritage, I took a 20-pack with me last year when I visited my cousins in Germany. The candy man, I distributed them to children in three families. Here is something uniquely American, I said. They seemed amused.

Yesterday when I stopped by the convenience store on my way home, the candies were still in the rack. But for how long? According to the Globe, a liquidating company has promised, if they pick up NECCO, to continue manufacturing them through November. The future, however, looks grim.

Can you remember when you had your first Necco wafer? Can you remember your favorite flavor, or the one you tried to avoid? Can you name the eight flavors? Lemon, lime, orange, cinnamon, wintergreen, clove, licorice and chocolate.

A few years ago, NECCO changed the recipe to include more natural ingredients. People want more healthy candy, they must have thought. Wrong. Sales dipped, and Necco returned to the pure sugar and artificial flavors that make them so memorable. For the record, here are the manufacturer’s ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, gums, colorings, and flavorings.

Necco wafers help us in many ways, not just as addiction transference. I have a colleague who, when she drives to New Jersey, marks her trip by popping a wafer at significant milestones. Exit 37, oh, a white one, cinnamon.

I find NECCO wafers a good way to get through a long committee meeting. A rambling discourse, pop another wafer. Don’t even care if it’s licorice.

NECCO also makes Sweethearts, Candy Buttons, Mary Jane chews, Sky Bars and Clark Bars. I hear Clark Bars are big in Pennsylvania.

But in Stoneham and the greater Boston area, it’s Necco wafers that will be missed. Necco, please say it ain’t so.

PS Please don’t tell my dentist I wrote this.